Ramanathan & Gunneswaran Notch Wins in Davis Cup Tie vs Uzbekistan

Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran give India a 2-0 lead in the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan.

Ramkumar Ramanathan overcame a spirited challenge from Temur Isamilov and Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Sanjar Fayziev to hand India a 2-0 lead against Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie at Bangalore on Friday.

Ranked 267, Ramkumar eked out a 6-2 5-7 6-2 7-5 win over the Uzbek, who is ranked 406, in the opening singles rubber of the second round tie.

Ismailov made life difficult for the Indian despite suffering cramps in his right hamstring.

However, Ramkumar dominated the proceedings before a bout of double faults handed Ismailov a small opening, which the Uzbek grabbed with both hands to make a match of it.

The Indian sealed the opening set in a jiffy and was leading 4-3 in the second when he saw himself down 0-40. He saved two breakpoints but netted a backhand on the third to allow Ismailov stay alive and fight.

The Uzbek played freely while Ramkumar put himself under pressure to finish the job quickly. The nerves got to Ramkumar and, in utter desperation, he squandered four set points and was eventually broken in the 12th game.

The Uzbek had snatched the momentum but suffered cramps in his right leg in the third set, making the job of the Indian easy. Ramkumar ran away with the third set as Ismailov's restricted movements gave him easy points.

Isnailov, though, recovered remarkably after a medical timeout and was battle ready for the fourth set. Ramkumar was always catching up with the Uzbek, holding his serves without fuss, and soon it was 5-5.

Two unforced errors by Ismail gave Ramkumar three break chances. He converted the third when Ismail buried a return to the net.

Ramkumar's unforced errors continued as twice he sent down double faults on match points. He though sealed the match with a forehand volley winner.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran had a much easier win than his teammate. The big difference between the two players was that Sanjar Fayziev served seven more double faults than Gunneswaran.

The Uzbekistan had a good break point conversion rate but he managed to earn only three break points in the rubber. While, Gunneswaran converted four out of 12 break points earned by him in the match.

The second set was the only set in which the Indian was a off-colour. He failed to attain a single break point and lost the set 3-6.

But, he came back strongly and won the next two games.

Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji will take on Farrukh Dustov and Sanjar Fayziev in the doubles rubber on day two of the Davis Cup tie on Saturday.

The winner of the tie will qualify for the World Group play-offs, to be played in September.